True Gospel with SAVIOUS-PARKER KWINIKA
BAD company always corrupts good morals. That is the main reason why some people never associate themselves with such rotten apples or wrong connections.

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Think about birds of the same feather flocking together….and how this affects certain individuals?

When you hear people labeling yourself ‘birds of the same feather’, actually they will be insinuating that people who share similar interests also tend to spend time with each other, which means they have same characteristics.

Usually when one person in the group is lazy or has too many faults or bad qualities, automatically all members of that group is tarred with the same brush of laziness.

For example, when an upright person plays with thieves, robbers, fraudsters, prostitutes or murderers, automatically that individual is characterized with the same undesirable attribute as another, who are widely believed to be having the same faults.

Daily, I hear friends, business partners, married couples, children, elders, believers, church principals and politicians and those in romantic relationships complaining bitterly that they would never play or associate themselves with so and so.

……but my question is what does the bible teach about associating with bad people? Whether we like it or not, we are influenced by the company we keep.

Evangelist Paul of Tarsus, my all-time favourite apostle, writes on 1 Corinthians 15:33 of the New Living Translation, arguing that believers must not allow themselves to be fooled by those who advocate for evil things. He argues, “Bad company corrupts good character.”

The English Standard Version says: “Do not be deceived: Bad company ruins good morals.”

Quite often I have witnessed some individuals around us that have a negative effect on our morality and decision making, sometimes even our family members.

For too long, human beings have allowed the actions of bad friends to influence them to do things they did not intend to do in the first place.

A majority of those that do drugs, prostitution, armed robbery, stealing, murderers, those practicing witchcraft, wizardry, fraud or conmen, drunkards, among others, always find themselves in this mess due to bad influence from wrong friends.

Further in the book of 2 Corinthians 6:14 of the New Living Translation says: “Don’t team up with those who are unbelievers. How can righteousness be a partner with wickedness? How can light live with darkness?”

Dear reader of this True Gospel, have you ever looked back and noted whatever good things that you have been doing have completely been destroyed due to connections with wrong friends?

My question is, why not walk away from such wrong friends? What is so special about friends who influence you to do wrong things that result in you losing all valuable relationships, business opportunities, your health, life or peace of mind?

Why not just dump such useless friends?

Remember, whoever you spend most of your time playing or socialising with will definitely play a part in shaping your life.

Your friends can challenge you to achieve things you never imagined but at the same time if you let them come too close into your personal life, they can also cripple your dreams permanently.

The wisest ancient king, Solomon, wrote on Proverbs 13:20 of the English Standard Version saying: “Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm,” while Psalm 1:1 of the International Standard Version confirms the True Gospel saying: “How blessed is the person, who does not take the advice of the wicked, who does not stand on the path with sinners, and who does not sit in the seat of mockers.”

Further on Psalm 26:4-5 reads: “I do not sit with the deceitful, nor do I associate with hypocrites. 5 I abhor the assembly of evildoers and refuse to sit with the wicked.”

Brothers and sisters, fathers and mothers, I’m neither calling nor urging you to cut ties with your friends. I am only urging you to do checks to ensure this so-called friend of yours is indeed a true friend or else the wrong connection.

Always check qualities that such friends exhibit. Always check who always surround yourself.

Consider seriously screening the type of friends that surround you, in order to go higher in life as opposed to always yearning at things that do not edify you.

Resist certain friends.

A majority of them (wrong friends) primarily influence you into bad things, at the expense of righteousness.

WHY PEOPLE REMAIN WITH DESTRUCTIVE FRIENDS?
In most cases, a majority of these friends say exactly the things we always want them to say to us while in most cases we would always want to hear. Yet they are misleading.

These so-called friends do exactly what we would want them to do. Believe me brethren, friends have different categories such as the ones on your support, others , whose majority always like to pull you down, while others wreak other people’s relations, or just be jealousy of other people’s achievements.

Mostly, these kinds of friends do not really love you. They are usually infatuated with something you have, such as your financial resources, popularity, you good looks, athleticism, handsome, beauty, among others.

These friends will never lead you to Jehovah. In most cases, they lead you to wicked things that eventually destroy your life.

The best friends, those who love you the most, will always want you to succeed all the time, while pointing you to Jehovah.

They will point out your inconsistencies no matter how they do not enjoy it. With love and grace, they step into difficult conversations because they cannot bear watching you continue down a path that might lead to destruction

Jealousy and bitterness plague many friends I have witnessed. They are extremely insecure. And here’s the big one: their lives are full of drama. They live a real-life soap opera. Most of these friends have no idea why drama always follows them.

Such friends always sell their souls to the devil (gods), in search of attention and the spotlight. These gods are ruthless. They require everything. And the gods of attention and spotlight kick you to the curb for their next victim once they destroy your worth and value.

These friends are toxic because they are always takers. They take your energy. They take your joy. They take your time. And they will never celebrate your successes. They can’t. The gods of spotlight and attention will not allow them to celebrate you. It means they take a backseat.

True friendship is a process of both give and take. Friends should be able to celebrate you. They should be OK with sometimes taking a back seat for you. They should be willing to listen to you.

Brothers and sisters, fathers and mothers, those who believe in this True Gospel, say amen!

Feedback: Savious.Kwinika@cajnewsafrica.com, TWITTER, @SaviousKwinika, FACEBOOK, Savious-Parker Kwinika, INSTAGRAM: Savious_Parker_Kwinika.